Take a Hint
by Resacon1990
Summary: Ash and Brock have left Dawn all alone in Sinnoh. Now she doesn't know what to do. Can a certain purple headed boy change her mind in the most unexpected, adventurous way?


**Warning: Incredibly sucky and loses plot XD If you have the strength to go on, thank you!**

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><p>"It's going to be sad to see you go Ash, Brock." Dawn mumbled, looking away from her friends and staring at the other groups of people saying their farewells. A hand resting on her shoulder made her jump slightly but she relaxed when she saw it was just Brock.<p>

"We'll always be just a phone call away Dawn, you know that." he smiled, causing her to do the same before he dragged her into a tight hug. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you and your crazy antics too." she laughed, hugging him back before being released and turning to Ash. "I'll miss you too Ash."

"Right back at ya!" he laughed before giving her a hug. After they let go, Pikachu threw himself at Dawn, nuzzling into her chin.

"See you later Pikachu." Dawn giggled, dropping a small kiss on the pokemons head.

_"Chaa"_

The trio, or foursome counting Pikachu, were interrupted by the ship behind them letting out a loud horn noise and the man on the plank yelling for everyone to board now. Pikachu quickly jumped onto Ash's shoulder as the two men picked up their bags, ready to board.

"Guess this is goodbye." Dawn sighed, walking with them as the headed to the boarding plank.

"I guess so." Ash smiled sadly. Dawn stopped as they reached the ship, watching as her two best friends continued up. It was only a matter of minutes though before they popped up on the balcony, waving madly. Dawn grinned up at them, the sunset in the background lighting her face up before suddenly it dawned on her.

She was alone now. Alone in Sinnoh. Alone to do what she wants to do. But what was that?

Dawn lifted her head and gave one last wave before turning around and disappearing into the crowd, the loud horn coming from the ship signaling it's leaving.

Quietly, Dawn left the harbor, walking down the path that led back to Twinleaf where they'd been staying at with her mother. Biting back tears, she suddenly broke into a run, wanting nothing more than to just head back and get onto that ship, anything so she wasn't alone.

With a loud cry, she fell flat on her face, having not seen the tree root sticking out of the ground her foot had caught on. With a sob, she pulled her knee up to her chin and looked at the small cuts lining it.

"Oww…" she sniffed, brushing the dirt off it.

"Are you ok?" a new voice asked. Dawn froze and glanced around, looking for the other person. Her sobs hitched in her throat when she saw who it was.

None other than her two-year crush, Paul.

"P-Paul?" she stuttered, watching as he walked towards her, hands in pockets, hair falling slightly in his curious eyes and a worried look on his face. Kneeling down beside her, he took his hands out of his pockets and gently brushed them over her cuts, watching as she winced.

"You'll be fine." he decided while getting up, his hand on her wrist as he pulled her up with him. Dawn cringed only once as she placed her weight on her leg but relaxed after a moment.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" she asked, blushing slightly when she saw he was still holding her wrist. He gazed down at her; obviously only just recognizing whom it was he'd just helped.

"Hm. Why do you want to know Troublesome?" he snapped, his eyes turning from warm to cold and his body turned slightly ridged as if he was on guard for danger. Dawn frowned; he didn't have a problem with her before.

"Just wondering."

"Hm." was all he said before he let go of her wrist and began walking the way she'd come from. With a frown, Dawn jogged to walk beside him.

"Are you leaving Sinnoh too?" she asked, looking up at him with big eyes. Paul in turn glared down at her.

"No."

"Then why are you going to the harbor?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Go away."

Dawn stopped and looked up at the purple haired man. He was glaring down at her, obviously angry and she couldn't help but feel a small chill run down her back at the amount of hatred he was showing at the moment,

"Why? What's wrong with having some company?" she challenged, her hands on her hips.

"Everything. People are annoying."

"Not all people!" she countered, grabbing his arm in an attempt to keep him from leaving. Paul roughly ripped his arm out of her grip, and was surprised at how strong she actually was.

"Most."

Dawn watched as he walked away again, her eyebrows pinched and head cocked to the side as she analyzed him. Something big must be up considering he was walking slightly hunched. His back was normally straight when he walked, always giving him that vibe of power.

"I challenge you to a battle!" Dawn suddenly cried, watching with delight as he stopped and turned to face her. He raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"A battle."

"Yes you know, when we…"

"I know what a battle is Troublesome. I'm not an idiot."

"Some days I wonder…"

With a smirk on his face, Paul walked over, stopping right in front of her. "You think about me hmm?"

"W-what! N-no!" she stuttered, blushing madly at his question and cursing herself at allowing him to get the upper hand.

_"URSARING!" _

Both pokemon trainers froze at the loud roar, turning in sync to see a large group of Ursarings charging at them, all with crazed looks in their eyes.

"Uh oh…" Dawn gasped, her heart pounding in her ears.

"ELECTIVIRE! STAND BY FOR BATTLE!" Paul roared as he jumped into action, throwing out his pokeball and pushing Dawn to the side, wincing slightly when she crashed to the ground.

The huge yellow pokemon burst out of the ball with a loud roar and dropped to the ground, a menacing snarl on its face as it waited for the Ursarings to be upon him.

"Paul!" Dawn screamed out in worry but shut up as Paul raised a hand in her direction, silencing her.

"Electivire, use thunder." Paul snapped calmly, watching as his pokemon nodded and gathered up all the energy it could before sending it firing towards the pack, hitting them directly and sending half of them crashing to the ground. Quickly, the bear-like pokemon turned around and scrambled away, picking up their fallen comrades and dragging them away as fast as possible.

"Yes!" Dawn cried, getting to her feet and grinning at Electivire. "Good work boy! You are amazing!" she praised, the grin on her face earning her a raised eyebrow from Paul. She shot him a glare in return.

"You know Paul, you could be nice." she hissed, crossing her arms. Paul just looked at her, his face impassive. Dawn didn't like his reaction and let out a huff before turning around.

"Well, see ya around then you stupid jerk."

"Hmph." was the only sound Paul made. Silently, he extended his arm to return the pokemon before Dawn suddenly screamed. Whirling around, he spotted her standing frozen in place, a huge Ursaring bearing down on her.

"Troublesome!" he cried just as the huge bear swung a paw at her, her screams intensifying. Before Paul could even think about what to do, Electivire came out of nowhere and pushed the bluenette aside; taking the blow that sent him into a tree. Without thinking anymore, Paul rushed to Dawn and picked her up from where she'd been lying as a crumpled heap on the floor of the forest. It surprised him to see that she had a small cut on her forehead and was balling her eyes out… most likely in pain. It wasn't exactly the most graceful fall.

"Electivire. Can you take care of it?" Paul asked, motioning his head towards the extremely angry pokemon as he cradled a crying Dawn in his arms, planning some way to get them out of there. The pokemon nodded before throwing himself at the other one, their loud roars penetrating the air and causing Paul to flinch as it attacked his eardrums.

"P-Paul…" Dawn whimpered, pressing her face into his chest. Paul sighed but quickly got to his feet, his mind kicking into survival mode.

"Its alright Troublesome, you'll be alright." he mumbled, his eyes trailing over the brawling pokemon before he made his mind up. Electivire could hold his own, he needed to get Dawn out of there.

Turning on his heel, Paul quickly tightened his arms around Dawn and sprinted as fast as he could away from the fight behind him, his breathing becoming ragged as he moved. After only a few minus of running, he began to slow to a stop.

"You'll be safe here." he mumbled to the now sobering Dawn who looked up at him with a horrified gaze as he lowered her to the ground.

"Don't leave me!" she begged, her hand finding and securing around his wrist.

"I can't leave my pokemon!" he snapped, tugging on her arm to try getting her to let go.

"B-but…"

"I'll come back! I'll come back ok! Just let me go!" he cried, and Dawn instantly let go when she heard the panic in his voice. Knowing he'd run much faster and it would give Dawn a conformation he'd come back, Paul shrugged off his bag and placed it on her lap.

"There are medical supplies in there. If you're hurt and can fix it yourself, do so." he hurriedly told her before turning around and sprinting away again.

Dawn watched as he disappeared, a small frown on her face and the bag in her lap. Following Paul's lead, she pulled her own off her back and rummaged around in it until her hand found a pokeball, pulling it out and letting out the pokemon.

_"Piplup!"_the pokemon cried before his eyes locked onto his master and he scampered towards her, asking her what's wrong, causing Dawn to quickly explain everything to the pokemon as a means of comfort before returning the pokemon again. Afterwards, she reached into Paul's bag and pulled out the necessary equipment and began to treat the small cuts she'd gotten from the two times she'd fallen over.

After she'd finished and finally gotten herself comfortable while waiting for Paul, she finally heard pounding feet heading her way.

"Paul!" she cried as the purple head burst into the clearing, his beaten up Electivire hot on his heels.

"Lets go!" Paul snapped, grabbing his bag and her hand before dragging her with him back out onto the path she'd been following originally before finding him. Dawn didn't know why but she didn't question Paul as they torn down the path and completely trusted him… again she didn't know why.

"What going on?" she cried out to him. He just shook his head and using his spare hand he managed to return his beaten up pokemon. He glanced behind them quickly before hauling her off road and throwing her towards a tree.

"Climb." Paul hissed, picking her up like she weighed nothing until she could grab the first branch. Dawn once again didn't question him and continued to climb, surprised when she felt Paul right behind her. After climbing up a few branches, she felt Paul push her towards one of the thick side branches and she took that as a sign to climb onto it. Without a doubt, she obeyed and scrambled on, clinging to the branch as if it where her last life line. When Dawn felt a weight add onto the branch, she instinctively reached out and grabbed onto Paul's arm, once again hanging on for dare life.

"Calm down Troublesome, and shut up." he snarled under his breath before looking down at the ground, his eyes searching for something.

It didn't take long for Paul to go stiff beside her, which in turn made her ridged, as a loud roar could be heard underneath them. Crying out in fear, Dawn threw both her arms tight around Paul, rendering his arms and hands useless.

"P-Paul! Why is it following you?" she cried, her eyes wide as terror took over her body right before the huge Ursaring from before wandered into sight.

"Shut up!" he growled, his eyes following the pokemons every move.

"B-but what if it s-sees us Paul! We're d-dead-" she was cut off as suddenly she felt something soft pressed against her lips. Dawn's eyes widened as she realized what those soft things were.

Paul's lips.

As soon as Dawns brain registered what was going on, Paul pulled away, his mouth slightly open, face slightly flushed and his eyes a little bit wider than normal.

"…Paul?" she gasped, one of her hands leaving his body and touching her lips.

"Only way to shut you up." he murmured before glancing down at the ground, his hair falling over his face as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "The coasts clear, lets go."

Without waiting for her, Paul abruptly jumped from the branch, plummeting towards the earth and landed perfectly on his feet. When he didn't hear Dawn beside him, he glanced up to see her once again looked frightened.

"Coming Troublesome?" he called, watching as her eyes darted to him then the long drop that waited for her.

"I… I'm scared." she squeaked. Paul sighed miserably. Of all people he had to be stuck with, it had to be Troublesome.

"I'll catch you."

"W-what?"

Paul gave her a look clearing showing he hated having to repeat himself.

"I will catch you Troublesome. Just jump."

Dawn watched him for a moment, trying to figure out whether to trust him or not. Then again, he'd saved her twice in the past few minutes, granted he'd put her in the danger in the first place but still. He didn't have to save her. It's not like she had anything to lose anyway. It was either jump and possibly be caught by Paul or eventually fall out of the tree and possibly break something.

"You promise?"

Paul groaned. Woman, why were they so frustrating?

"Just jump already." he snapped. Dawn swallowed the lump in her throat before nodding.

"O-ok…"

And then she jumped.

And then he caught her.

And then the ground caught them both.

"You said you'd catch me!"

"I did! You just decided to flatten me instead you idiot." Paul snarled, pushing her of him quite gracelessly.

"Jerk." she hissed back, her eyes narrowed. He threw her a smirk as he got to his feet, surprising her even more when he helped her up.

"Whatever Troublesome." he sneered before turning around and walking away.

"Hey! Wait! Why are you leaving?" she cried, running in front of him. Paul looked at her, clearly unimpressed.

"I, unlike you, have things to do."

Dawn pursed her lips together before grinning.

"You still owe me a battle."

"Why don't we save you the humiliation and just say I won." Paul snapped, getting quite pissed off now. Sure, he didn't mind the girl… in small doses. Unfortunately he knew this wasn't the case now, especially when she put her hands on her hips.

"Oh great…"

"Don't you 'oh great' me Paul! You promised!"

"I did not."

Dawn bit her lip. Crap, he was right. "Well, you can't back down from a challenge!"

Paul raised an eyebrow. "Yes I can."

"Oh come on Paul!" Dawn begged, grabbing his hands and ignoring when he tried pulling away. "We're already in a clearing! Just take one side each!"

Paul sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere with this girl unless he kicked her ass.

"Fine. On one condition, I win I get whatever I want."

Dawn smirked, it really didn't suit her. "Fine by me! Because you won't win!"

Paul groaned before turning and walking towards the other side. He was there and ready before she'd even finished talking. With a flushed face, Dawn glared at him before sprinting to her side, pulling out a pokeball on her way.

"Piplup! I need you to hold my bag!" she cried, watching as the pokemon burst out of its ball with a happy cry and took the bag from her, standing loyally by her side.

"Ladies first?" she cried out across the clearing.

"If there were some ladies here, then I'd say yes." He sneered, a cruel smirk on his face as he enlarged a pokeball in his hand. Dawn glared at him.

"You are such an _ass_!" she hissed, yanking a pokeball out of her bag, Piplup almost falling over at her vigorous movement. "Mamoswine! Spotlight!"

A huge mammoth crossed with a bull like pokemon burst out of the ball, crashing to the ground and making it shake, almost causing Dawn and Paul to topple over. As soon as he regained balance, Paul quickly analyzed the pokemon.

It was giant, easily twice his height. It had thick, brown coloured wooly hair that coated its body and a mask like colouration around its face. Its tusks were huge, showing it was a male (Males have bigger tusks than females) and were made of pure ice.

"Interesting choice." Paul muttered under his breath, slightly unimpressed.

"Mamoswine!" Dawn giggled, jumping up and down clapping. "Are you ready for a battle?"

A loud roar was Dawns reply, causing Paul to smirk. This pokemon might be a hard one to beat.

"Electivire. Stand by for battle." He barked, throwing the enlarged ball. Another loud roar joined with Mamoswine's as the pokemon leapt out.

Dawn's mouth fell open.

"Paul! You can't use Electivire!" she cried, horror in her eyes. Paul raised an eyebrow at her.

"And just why not?"

"He just got mauled by an Ursaring! Don't you think he should rest?"

"Rest is for weaklings." Paul sneered, his glare burning into Dawns eyes. With a flinch, she tore her gaze away and focused on Paul's pokemon.

Electivire was panting, one eye patricianly closed and barely standing. Dawn could see that being out of the pokeball was torturing the poor thing.

"Paul please… you're killing him! Return him and use someone else!" she begged, sympathy for the pokemon flooding her senses. Paul shook his head.

"Electivire will only be going back into his ball when I want him too." He snapped. "Now hurry up, you're wasting my time."

Dawn bit her lip and was about to open her mouth to protest once again when suddenly Electivire caught her eye with his.

The steady determination shocked her. With a nod of her head, she turned to Mamoswine.

"Ready?" she asked. Mamoswine gave a brisk nod and scuffed at the ground, smirking at the wounded pokemon in front of him.

"Alright… lets start with… Take Down!" she cried, pointing at Electivire. Mamoswine gave a roar in response before an orange aura seemed to glow around him and he began sprinting towards Electivire

"Dodge. Then use Brick Break." Paul commanded, his hands shoved in his pockets as if he didn't care. Electivire gave a weak nod before jumping out of the way of the charging pokemon, his forearm becoming surrounded in white sparks before he karate-chopped Mamoswine in the side.

"Mamoswine!" Dawn gasped, watching as her pokemon slammed to the ground. With a groan, it got to its feet and retreated, glaring at Electivire who looked to be almost unconscious. Dawn nibbled on her lip again before shaking her head.

"Ice Shard!" she exclaimed, choosing a long-range attack. Mamoswine nodded again and began charging up a glowing blue ball between its tusks, firing it off as soon as it was ready.

"Protect." Paul said, watching as the blue ball came closer and closer. It was only when it was less than a meter away from his pokemon that he jumped to the side, watching as Electivire flew past him having failed in its defensive move.

"Paul! Electivire! Are you ok?" Dawn screamed, her eyes wide as she watched the two struggle to their feet. This was exactly why she hated pokemon battles.

"Electivire, Thunder Punch. Then Giga Impact." Paul snarled, anger glinting in his eyes. Dawn swallowed, he wasn't kidding around anymore.

"Umm…" she was to late to think of a defensive move as Electivire's charged fists slammed into Mamoswine, sending him flying. "No!"

The pokemon clambered to its feet, snorting and obviously angry. Dawn swallowed again. Great, three very pissed off males. How perfect.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Electivire charging up another attack before flying towards Mamoswine. "QUICK! USE DIG!" she cried, watching as her pokemon managed to worm his way underground. Quietly, Electivire retreated until he was standing in front of Paul, his eyes darting everywhere looking for a sign of where Mamoswine was.

Paul frowned as he too looked. How could a pokemon that big leave no trace? In fact, how could something that big even use a move such as dig? He had to think quickly though; Mamoswine could come out at anytime and destroy Electivire.

"Electivire, use thunder on the ground." he ordered, smirking at a paling Dawn. She watched as Electivire nodded and as soon as he was about to hit the ground with his attack, she screamed.

"MAMOSWINE! NOW!"

"Electivire! Protect!" Paul cried, smirking at his handy work. This time his pokemon managed to form a protective bubble around him just before Mamoswine burst out of the ground, flying back once coming in contact.

"_Mamo!_" the pokemon cried as it skidded all the way back to Dawn. She looked on her pokemon in horror.

"Dig attack is affected more by Protect." Paul called, shaking his head. Dawn clenched her teeth together in anger, running her eyes over her pokemon. He looked to weak to go on.

"Alright. Use Ancient Power." She mumbled, Mamoswine only just hearing her. With a loud groan, he climbed to his feet and began to charge up a new attack.

"Giga Impact." Paul smirked, knowing he was close to winning this round. With loud screams of their names, the pokemon released their attacks. Unfortunately Electivire sliced straight through Mamoswine's glowing ball and slammed straight into the huge pokemon, watching in satisfaction as he reeled back.

"Lets finish this. Use Thunder."

Dawn's mouth fell open as Mamoswine let out a loud scream before falling to the ground, having fainted.

"Mamoswine…" she whispered. Moving forward she got out the pokemons pokeball and returned it. "Good boy."

Looking up, she saw Paul also recall Electivire, the pokemon almost unconscious itself. That's when realization hit her.

"I-I lost…" she whispered, her fist gripping the ball in her hand as she looked down at the ground, fighting back tears.

Across the clearing, Paul watched her. He'd won of course, as was predicted, but seeing her like that… he shook his head. No. No matter how he felt about the girl, it was not going to change him.

"P-Paul?" he looked up in surprise to see her making her way over to him. "Y-you won. What do you want?"

Paul bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at her. Arceus she was pathetic. How could he take advantage of her?

"Another battle. I want another battle." He suddenly said, mentally hitting himself at the fact he was actually taking sympathy on the girl. She frowned at him.

"You do? Why?"

Damn it. She wanted a reason?

"Because. I need to train up my pokemon. Yours seem to be an interesting challenge." He lied, cursing himself. Dawn's eyes brightened up.

"Oh! Thank you Paul!" She giggled, throwing her arms around him in a hug. Paul stiffened at the contact, her sweet smell filling his senses. Just as he crumbled under the pressure and was about to circle his arms around her waist, she pulled away.

"Soooo one vee one?" she asked. Paul shook his head, disagreeing and trying to shake away his moment of weakness.

"Two vee Two." He declared. Dawn frowned.

"Why? That could leave it as a tie!" she exclaimed, looking at him as if he had two heads.

He smirked. "We'll incorporate the last battle into the score."

"What!" she cried, her mouth hanging open. "That's not fair! You get a head start!"

"Then I guess you better not lose." Paul sniggered before lightly pushing her away. Dawn stumbled a little before storming over to the other side of the clearing.

"You suck Paul!" she yelled as she reached into her bag and yanked out another pokeball. Paul rolled his eyes, doing the same.

"Just hurry up." He snapped, watching as she shot him another glare.

"Alright. Buneary! Spotlight!" she called, throwing her ball in the air and watching in delight as a small bunny pokemon burst out in a shower of hearts. It dropped down and winked, blowing a kiss to Paul.

Paul wrinkled his nose, that thing was the most girlish pokemon he'd ever seen… it was even wearing clothes… clothes! On a pokemon! With a roll of his eyes he too tossed out his pokeball.

"Weavile, stand by for battle." He ordered, his pokemon flying out of the ball with no show at all.

But as soon as the pokemon made eye contact, it was like the world stopped. Buneary blew a kiss to Weavile, Weavile winked, both their eyes looked like hearts as they stared at each other and Paul knew he was screwed.

"Paul! They look like they're in love!" Dawn giggled, watching the two pokemon in front of her. Paul groaned, sooo screwed.

"Weavile. Snap out of it." He snarled, glaring at his pokemon. Weavile shook his head before nodding, avoiding looking at Buneary who looked hurt.

"That wasn't very nice!" Dawn called, crossing her arms. "Buneary seems to like Weavile!"

"Fun fact, did you know that pokemon normally reflect the feelings of their masters?" Paul smirked, watching Dawn flame up.

"Well… that could be taken both ways." Dawn laughed, throwing Paul a smirk and watching as he blushed slightly.

"Weavile. Start things off with Metal Claw." Paul snapped, resisting the urge to just strangle the girl across from him. Dawn's eyes widened, not expecting him to start.

"Buneary! Counter with Dizzy Punch!" she called, her pokemon nodding and charging towards Weavile, a happy grin on her face. With a sickening sound, the two collided; creating a small dust cloud that hid them from view.

"Weavile/Buneary?" both trainers called when the dust cloud didn't go down after a while. They exchanged worried looks before Dawn turned to Piplup.

"Piplup? Can you get rid of the dust?" she asked. Piplup nodded and raced out to the middle of the clearing, already flapping his wings and getting rid of the dust cloud.

Dawn and Paul's mouths both dropped open.

In the middle of the clearing, Buneary and Weavile where currently in the middle of a make-out session… which was incredibly disturbing…

"WEAVILE!" Paul snarled, glaring at his pokemon who instantly pulled away from Buneary and sulked over to his master.

"Oh Buneary!" Dawn giggled. "You go girl!"

Both the pokemon smiled weakly at their masters before facing each other again, their momentary weakness over.

"Ice beam!" Paul called. "Then Swords Dance!"

"Dodge it Buneary! Then use Charm!"

Weavile quickly shot an ice beam at Buneary who jumped up, watching as it shot underneath her like a path. As soon as she landed on it though, Weavile came charging towards her, his claws glowing purple. Quickly, Buneary turned on its side and blew Weavile a kiss, winking cutely at him as well. Unfortunately, Weavile slowed to a stop, infatuated by the pokemon.

"Now Dizzy Punch." Dawn instructed, making eye contact with Paul, smirking when she saw he'd accepted defeat in pulling out his pokeball.

With a loud cry, Dawn watched as Weavile flew backwards, crashing to the ground on the other side of the clearing, unconscious. Across from her, Paul sighed and shook his head, lifting up the pokeball and pointing it at his pokemon.

He was shocked when suddenly a large, brown ear smashed it out of his hand and took off towards Weavile. Buneary dropped down beside Weavile before dragging him with her arms further away from the clearing so they were on the edge of the forest.

"Aww! Buneary! That's so cute!" Dawn giggled, grinning and clapping her hands together. Paul's eye twitched… this was ridiculous. Knowing he couldn't do anything about it, Paul reached into his pocket and dragged out his last pokeball for the match.

"Last battle." He called, making eye contact with Dawn who smiled.

"Winner takes all!" She laughed, inclining her head for him to go first. Paul smirked before throwing the ball in the air.

"Torterra, stand by for battle." he snapped, slightly nervous at the awaiting battle.

Wait.

Paul?

Nervous?

Oh the world was ending.

"Piplup! Spotli-" Dawn was cut off as a loud explosion echoed in the distance and shook the ground they were standing on. She let out a loud scream as she lost her footing and crashed to the ground.

"Troublesome, you ok?" she heard Paul's voice call and managed to hear over the sound of cracking ground, his pounding footsteps. Without skipping a beat, Paul scooped his hands under her arms and dragged her up onto her feet.

"Thanks." she gasped, feeling slightly winded. He just gave her a quick once over before pointing off into the distance where a large black cloud was forming.

"It's coming from Twinleaf." he muttered, his eyes widening. "Come on."

Dawn quickly fell into step beside him as he took off in the direction of the town, returning Torterra and picking up Piplup as he went.

"Wait! What about Buneary and Weavile?" Dawn called, tugging on his arm and pointing to the couple on the other side of the clearing. Paul just shook his head.

"They'll catch up."

And with that they were sprinting off towards the nearby town. After crashing through the town's boundaries, the two began looking franticly for the source of the explosion. Not that they had to look far, right in front of them the town hall was ablaze and the town was wild with people. Wounded were being carried away, people were throwing buckets of water and commanding their few water types to attempt to beat down the blaze.

"DAWN!"

The two teens turned to see a familiar blue haired woman sprinting towards them and wrap Dawn up in a hug.

"Mum! You're ok!" Dawn cried, hugging her mother back. Paul watched for a moment before taking the water penguin still in his arms over to the hottest part of the hall. Gently he placed Piplup on the ground and crouched down beside it.

"Water gun?" he said, not to sure if the pokemon knew the attack. Piplup smacked his leg before allowing a hose of water to come flying out of his beck at the flames. Stepping back, Paul grabbed out his other pokemon, minus Weavile and Electivire, and quickly sent them out to help out with getting buckets of water.

"Froslass." he called, stopping his ice pokemon before she could go any further. "Can you sense anyone in there?"

Froslass was silent for a moment before shaking her head. Paul smiled slightly in gratitude before nodding for her to go help out. Turning his attention to Piplup again, he reached out and picked up the small pokemon, holding it up to his chest so it'd have a better range to shoot his water gun.

"Paul!"

He didn't even have to look to recognize Dawn as she sprinted over to him, her eyes wide as she saw the team effort that he, Piplup and his pokemon were doing. They'd almost stopped the flames… by themselves.

"What caused all this?" Paul asked, lifting Piplup up a little more and stepping out of the way of a charging Torterra, laden with buckets.

"A few kids decided they were bored in the middle of a meeting so they thought they'd have a battle in the back room." Dawn sighed and looked up at the taller male. "A voltorb used self-destruct and of course the hall wasn't reinforced like normal gyms so…" she gestured at the dying building. "… this happened."

"Idiots."

"For once, I agree with you." Dawn muttered, causing Piplup to suddenly choke on its water stream, surprise in its eyes. Dawn laughed. "Yes Piplup, I agree with the dumb jerk."

"Troublesome girl."

"Arrogant prat."

"Pathetic-"

"EXCUSE ME!"

Both teens jumped in surprise as a small girls voice interrupted their insulting of each other. Glancing down, they saw she was looking up at them with tearful eyes.

"C-can you h-help me?" she begged, looking more at Paul than Dawn. "M-my pokemons in there!" she cried, pointing at the burning building. Paul frowned.

"There's no one in there."

"My E-Espeon is!" she sobbed before suddenly sprinting towards the falling apart door.

"WAIT!" both Paul and Dawn screamed, stumbling towards her. Quickly, Paul threw her Piplup before racing towards the building.

"PAUL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Dawn shrieked, her eyes wide in fear. He paused for a minute and looked back at her.

"Saving that brat." he called back before disappearing inside the flaming hall.

"NO-" All sound was cut off from Paul as the roar of flames took over. Paul ripped off his t-shirt (he'd taken off his jacket previously because of the heat) and threw it over his head. Taking a few steps forward, Paul spotted the girl a little way away, her face one of worry.

"Hurry!" she yelled, turning around and sprinting in further, as if the flames didn't bother her. Taking a deep breath, Paul began following her, being more careful as he stepped around all the debris. The loud, sudden crack of wood made him jump though and out of the corner of his eye he saw the door he'd come through crash to the ground, blocking his exit.

Swearing under his breath, Paul swiftly moved in further, trying to focus on the voice of the girl as she called out words of encouragement.

"Where the bloody hell are you?" Paul roared as he narrowly missed another piece of blackened wood that fell from the roof.

"Just a little more! Come on!"

With a grunt, Paul shouldered his way in even further until he stumbled across the girl, her back to him as she draped herself over a metal pole, the scorching heat not bothering her.

"Lets get out of here." Paul snapped, reaching down with one hand and gripping her shoulder, his eyes practically bursting out of his head when he didn't hit anything solid, his hand just kept going until it fell by his side.

She wasn't real.

"Help him!" the girl screamed as the foundation for the roof finally gave in and the building started collapsing around their ears. Quickly, the girl… or ghost or whatever she was, moved out of the way and gave Paul a good look of what was trapped under the pole.

A rather beaten up, unconscious Espeon.

Rushing forward, Paul forgot all about the girl and began trying to figure out ways to free the pokemon. Finally he grabbed his shirt and wrapped it around his hands, making sure one of them could be freed easily before he arranged himself to lift up the pole. He'd only have seconds before the heated metal would burn through the fabric.

Paul took one more deep breath before grabbing the pole and lifting it off the pokemon. He barely had time to unravel one hand and haul out the pokemon before his hand felt like it was on fire, causing him to drop the pole and glare at it. The skin was ruby red and the fabric around it was singed.

"Thank you!" the girl screeched, her eyes wide with joy. "Come on! I know the way out!" she cried before turning around to leave, only to lurch to a stop.

"What is it?" Paul grumbled, picking up the Espeon and wrapping it up in what was left of his shirt.

"N-nothing." she stuttered, shooting him an uncomfortable smile. Frowning, Paul pushed past her only to freeze. Lying in front of them was a body.

The body of the girl.

Paul just about dropped the pokemon in shock. He'd thought that the heat had been getting to him and had imagined the girl was a ghost…

"Son of a-"

"It doesn't matter! I'm gone! Just save Espeon!" the girl suddenly screamed in his ear as a deafening crack echoed around the building and Paul felt himself being lifted into the air, crashing shoulder first into a pile of debris. Shaking, he got to his feet and followed the girl as she raced through the messy building; her goal was the door just in front of them.

"Almost there…" she muttered as they got so close. Another loud crack was heard and the two watched in horror as the door also fell down, covering their exit.

"DAMN IT!" Paul roared, not even stopping as he continued to fly towards the wall, closing his eyes tightly as he was seconds from hitting the debris.

And hit the debris he did, barreling right through it and ended up coughing on the ground outside, his lungs burning as fresh air attacked them.

"Thank you…"

Paul looked for the small girl but was shocked when all he saw was the building finally collapse in on itself.

"PAUL!"

His head snapped around to see Dawn sprinting towards him, dropping to the ground and sliding until she was beside him.

"Are… are you ok?" she asked, glancing down at the pokemon in his arms. Paul didn't resist as someone came along and took the Espeon away from him. In fact, he didn't respond to anything. Not the talking Dawn as she gripped onto his good hand, not the people who picked him up and placed him on a stretcher, not the probing hands that assessed all his injuries.

"Miss? Can you try and get him to talk?" muttered a voice that Paul instantly forgot.

"Y-yes Doctor." Dawn's unmistakable voice sobbed back.

Wait… Troublesome was crying? Over him?

"P-Paul? Paul can you hear me? Talk to me!"

"Ugh… why are you crying?" he hissed under his breath, rolling his head to the side to look at her with vacant eyes. Luckily he did because he would have killed himself if he'd missed the smile that appeared on her face.

"You're alive!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Paul grimaced at the pain but sucked it up. The feeling of her wrapped around him was too much to allow a bit of pain to get in the way.

"Of course. Think I'd die before we finished our battle?" he asked softly, trying to hug her back but realizing she'd trapped his good hand with her own. Not that he minded too much.

_"Oh __crap, __to __much __smoke."_he thought to himself as he realized what he'd just thought. Dawn's bright laugh quickly knocked away the thought though and he smiled at her.

"You should smile more often." Dawn whispered, grinning down at him. She felt a small bond with Paul for some reason. Maybe it was because in the past day with the amount of situations her and Paul had gotten into… not to mention the snog in the tree, her already small crush on the boy had turned into something bigger.

"Hmmm…" Paul hummed, slightly delusional.

"Miss Berlitz, could you please leave the room? The doctor needs to tend to his patient." A nurse asked kindly as she walked in the room. Dawn nodded her head before glancing down at Paul.

"You're going to come stay with me, ok Paul?" she said softly, smiling down at him and squeezing his hand. When he didn't respond, Dawn sighed and got up, watching as he slowly slipped out of consciousness and allowed the doctor to rush past her and begin treating him.

Yes, she really did like him.

…

**Five Days Later**

"Thank you Johanna, for allowing me to stay." Paul said to the blue haired woman as he shouldered his bag.

"It was no problem Paul. Are you sure you want to leave? Your burns aren't all fully healed." Johanna replied, gesturing to Paul's still wrapped hand. He shrugged.

"I'll be fine. Say goodbye to Dawn for me."

"Why not say it yourself?" a new voice interrupted, causing both Johanna and Paul to jump. Glancing up the stairs just beside where they were standing in front of the front door, they saw an angry looking Dawn glaring at them.

"Leaving so soon Paul?" she asked, stomping down the stairs. Johanna grinned at Paul before quickly sliding out of the room, leaving the two to themselves.

"Things to do, places to go." Paul replied, his voice emotionless. Dawn's glare intensified as she stopped in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"And you just thought you could waltz on out of here without a goodbye?" she hissed, becoming even more angry as he nodded. "You jerk!"

"Is it just me, or is that your favorite way of describing me?"

"Shut up."

Paul was very surprised when Dawn suddenly stepped forward and hugged him, tears in her eyes.

"I don't want you to go. You almost died Paul! I almost lost you!" she sobbed into his chest. Paul's eyes widened at the raw emotion that was in her voice.

What. The. Hell.

"T-Troublesome…. we've only really gotten to know each other over the past five days." he stuttered, pushing her away from him. Not that he cared. He'd liked her since the day they met two years ago and their kiss five days ago had sealed the deal but still! She can't feel the same way… can she?

"Y-you're right. We hardly know each other." she mumbled, crossing her arms as a sign of weakness. Paul watched her before sighing.

"We still have that battle." he mumbled, catching her attention as he looked at the ground. A huge grin torn out on to her face.

"Now?"

"Maybe some other time." he continued, wondering if she'd get the hint. She frowned for a long moment before realization crossed her face. He was telling her he'd come back.

"And I can't wait!" she cried, throwing herself at him again. Paul smirked and patted her head awkwardly.

"I thought you were leaving."

"What?" Dawn frowned as she looked up in confusion at the purple haired teen. He flushed red and looked away though.

"That's why I went to the harbor the other day. I thought you were leaving as well."

"You were going to say goodbye?" Dawn asked, still confused. Paul shook his head, stepping away from her.

"I was going to join you."

Dawn's mouth fell open at the revelation before a huge grin popped up on her face. He was going to join them?

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you join us?" Dawn questioned with a frown. Sure she'd been happy to hear him say it, but that didn't stop her from wondering why.

"That's for me to know." he started, smirking at her. "And you to find out."

Dawn narrowed her eyes, ignoring the fact that once again he'd practically stated that he planned on seeing her again.

"Goodbye Troublesome." Paul mumbled when she didn't reply, turning around and cracking open the door.

"No."

He turned around with a raised eyebrow, surprised to see her grinning face. She went through a lot of mood swings.

"Goodbye is for forever. And remember, you still owe me that battle." she chirped. Paul chuckled lightly before nodding his head.

"See you round then Dawn." he stated, throwing he a grin as he turned around again, walking out the door.

"Bye Paul!" she cried, rushing to stand in the doorway and wave him off, new hope in her face as she knew she'd see him again soon.

Maybe she won't be alone in Sinnoh after all.

It wasn't until he'd rounded the corner and disappeared, that Dawn clicked that, not only had he smiled, he'd called her by her name. Called her Dawn.

She couldn't stop the brilliant smile that tore across her face.

* * *

><p><strong>I know I know, sucky and dumb right? I just really wanted to finish the story that I just ended up typing nonsense! Anyway, Paul owes her a battle and thats that. THERE IS GOING TO BE NO SEQUEL!<strong>

**For those who don't understand, I wrote a one shot, marked it complete and everyone was ribbiting on about the update when there shall be no update.**

**Anyway! Thank you for reading! I'm not a stuck up idiot like how I just seemed so it'd be nice if you could drop a little piece of feedback! That'd be lovely!**

**Which reminds me! 23 pages on word! Feeling proud since my original record was 11 :D!**


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